N-Tactix

https://twitter.com/steelballrunner/status/1763481522840252445

I saw this thread on twitter and it just gave me a huge rush of nostalgia of being here and in SRK, I just had to log back in. I vividly remember finding out the statement about Sakura while scouring across some low res scans of a NG guidebook and some Red Earth materials on a Chinese website. Necro's attitude towards the Illuminati being less of hatred and more regret I find pretty interesting compared to how it comes across in the SF3 games, and personally I've never considered the concept of Sean being able to tap into the SnH. It makes sense though I think most people will agree it's not something that's worth exploring. But with SF6 now, I can't help but look at this and be disappointed at how much Capcom kind of just put all these characters on pause.

Nice! I've been getting into a NG/2I phase alongside just 1996-1997 era Capcom binge. I am still sceptical though that SF6 will actually address the loose ends from SF3.

It's Juri, of course she would call Chun Li old and lame just as she would pretty much all the main cast. This could apply to a lot of characters tbh, Juri has a lot of potential but as she is as of SFV, she feels less like a character and more like a obstacle for the main two girls. Personally, I'd have a lot of characters break away from their "groups" and have a chance to interact with rarely interacted characters and develop on their own.

I vaguely recall seeing this surname right up in some character bios for minor SF/FF characters. Can anybody that has all those translations check for a character that has that name? Odd it took until SF6 for her to full on parody Chun-Li. Adds a interesting facet to Juri.

Alpha 2 also had some hugely stupid gaffes not just with quotes but endings and pre-match dialogue when looking at Japanese FAQs in comparison to English quotes. I think the only accurate CPS2 game translations were the Megaman ones. Darkstalkers also had tons more quotes. It's a shame because there is absolutely no excuse since there usually aren't any character space limitations like SNK's games.

It makes sense when you remember that Blade's name in Japanese is Jihad and that Leo's+Blade's country of origin suspiciously resembles North Africa. Possibly inspired by stories of Barbary Lions and warriors in Carthage alongside the tokusatsu I talked about last year. Obviously a Arabic name in pre-Islamic N.Africa is weird but Japan always mixes that region up with all sorts of other parts of the world. Between this and SF3 NG+2I drawing inspiration from Rai music, I wonder if the Capcom fighting team had a fascination with North Africa/Middle East during the mid 90's. I still remember in the pre-SF4 days people thinking that there was more to Vega all because of that one CvS2 animation and it made used to think Vega was a contender for being Q. Funny how that one detail changes everything.

Italian Wrestler: Marisa French Girl: Mimi Mexican Girl: Lily(?) American Girl: Kimberly Looking at the concept art, it looks like another SFV deal with the concept being good but it gets botched with the actual implementation in 3d. I was talking to a friend last night and she absolutely predicted Cammy having pants and the returning men having beards, she was a bit sad on that but on my end it was surreal to see that happen. Overall, I'm on the fence but slightly leaning towards positive. This can go wrong in so many ways and I'm not liking the look too much. Also is it me or does Ken look like a more modern version of MOTW Terry?

I used to have Yang's and Dudley's 2nd impact theme during my time in university. And Terry 115/Inner Shades too 🤣

Seems like the version we got in the final game opted for a Babel II style thing with the resting pod and tower in the middle of the desert.

Whip's always been shit in every game. You really have to put alot of work to make her go face to face with other characters. Which is a shame because in terms of non-gameplay aspects, she's probably one of KOF's best characters. If O.Rugal was able to recover his health at the end of every round won that would have at least added some challenge close to 98 but he's a laughable joke. Almost close to Orochi or Mukai tier of easy SNK boss.

People make the mistake of thinking the manhua are just the "WTF?" moments again and again when those moments are rare and far in between. I've said it before but the climax of the 00 adaptation where each of the teams one by one try to stop Zero ending with the cast coming together to share one last moment together when they realise they can't avert Southtown's destruction is great and better than the actual game. Especially where Terry comes over to say that he respects K' in what's a bookend moment with the first SNK hero recognising the (at the time considering the bankruptcy and ignoring Rock) final SNK hero while Ryo gets closure with King. Also Candy's dying words to Kula about how if she ever doubts her purpose and whether what she is doing is right, that she should follow what her heart says as her grief causes a blizzard (Kula throughout the manhua seems to not understand why she needs to kill K' and Maxima and feels an affinity for them, especially K')

That was 96. 97 is funnily enough one of the most straightforward adaptations. Only real difference is that Yamazaki helps CYS while Yashiro and Shermie fuse with Chris to form Orochi. And I don't remember much of 98 except that it's all in Shingo's imagination. It's also why CYS re-incarnated in Zillion as when Orochi was sealed, he no longer had a host so all three of them returned to Earth. However this does lead to Chris getting kidnapped by NESTS and them managing to copy his data which split his regular self from his Orochi persona creating clones of Orochi that Fio takes down while saving King's brother, who is being made into the next Orochi host.

It has been a while since I read all of them. Craziest moment has to be the 00 manhua where Kyo and Iori have a race using sports cars across the motorway until Chizuru has to teleport Iori out of the car. And the entirety of the Buriki One manhua where Robert is obese and simply concentrates his mind to return to his old self. It was always weird to me that she wasn't involved at any capacity at all during the NESTS saga in the games.

I'd say the fact that Ed existed all the way back in SF4 disproves that. Capcom seem to want to have a story going. What needs to be looked at is whether they will actually commit to it all the way through. Personally, I'd have Shadaloo stay gone for the time being, if Bison is to return it should be under his own terms and by himself. If you have NS and the original co-existing, they just tarnish whatever image was left of the original Shadaloo and also makes SF6 yet again too scared to move beyond the SF2 era in proper ways.

From what I remember of the manhua's development, they were given in depth notes by SNK months in advance of the games being released and certain trivia but were given free reign. Which is why you get stuff like the headswap clones from Zillion popping up (or just Zillion in general which is basically a 94-00 fanfiction) or the wild plot twist that NESTS era Kyo is a clone and KUSANAGI was the real Kyo this whole time. It's why Glaugan appears in the 00 manhua as Clone Zero's assistant as intended (and if you look at his stage in the game, you'll notice some lion engravings across the plaza you fight him in).

That would explain why they were so awful. At first I thought it was him struggling to keep up with doing art for both KOF2000 and CVS1. Wish he stayed in SNK just to finish up NESTS at least but it's understandable why he left.

Another interesting thing about Goentiz is that he pretends to be a priest of a another religion yet doesn't believe in it at all according to his Japanese wiki page (likely Catholicism considering how the genderflipped version has her nationality written as Italian) He was also responsible for trashing Kyo almost completely in front of Benimaru between 95 and 96, causing Kyo to humble himself and revamp his fighting style. But I disagree with the fact that he was overlooked, at the time there was huge build up to him. His appearance in the KOF Kyo manga and a novel of him as a teenager beating Rugal were released before 96 came out. He had huge presence in 96 itself and into 97 as well, arguably being the true villain of the Orochi saga moreso than Rugal, CYS and arguably even Orochi could ever be. His revenge on Vice and Mature also helps cement him a well done villain since his last act is technically spiting his former allies. He appeared in SvC Chaos and the console ports of 02 too where his appearance was one of the big highlights of that game. I'd argue that Capcom would have likely used him for CvS3 back when it considered as their 2d swan song in 2002-03. But that's a digression. I wouldn't say he was forgotten or tossed to the side. He just had to compete with the likes of Rugal, Geese, Krizalid, Igniz etc who all have their own reasons for being as popular as they are (and in my opinion, except for Igniz, better than him) . Mukai and C. Zero are the ones that got overshadowed. EDIT: Actually, his impact lingers even into the EX series, where EX2 is all about some billionaire wanting to resurrect Goentiz to gain his abilities and using a boy with one of the sacred treasures to be Goentiz' temporary host. Even concept art for 94 and SNK's comments have them show that Chris with Goentiz's robes was always planned as the ultimate villain of the Orochi storyline from the get go before they split the character concepts into two.

In a just world, the next arc after NESTS should have been about Duo Lon hunting Ron down while Kensou gets it together. Also, on Goentiz, according to SNK, he was a teenager when he gouged Rugal's eye out and as a 30 year old, murdered Chizuru's sister who was then only 12. He's despicable.

I feel like he would have had a huge impact were it not for 2001 Zero stealing his thunder in addition to having to share with Kula and Ron in the same game. He's similar to Goentiz in terms of having a grand plan. He murdered Krizalid, infiltrated two mercenary groups to get access to a cannon and ended up destroying Southtown; A huge blow to almost every character and faction in the game. He was the one villain who actually got what he wanted, weakening NESTS to the point they were forced play their hand the next year. He helps to encapsulate the overall theme of the NESTS arc: showing why exactly the Orochi clan were justified in their worry of humanity. The only problem I felt was that they introduced somebody like him a bit too early into NESTS. We only had 99 to introduce the cartel so it feels like the second game should have spent more time elaborating on the cartel and the Kyo Clones before we got extra layers like traitors. That on top of the fact that SNK seem to want to forget that Southtown was destroyed (probably because, like a lot of things about KOF2000, it was an allegory for their bankruptcy)

It isn't about the fact that he has unnatural hair colour, it's about the fact that he plain just sucks. The sprite for him looks off both in color and proportions. The shades they picked for him make him look like a cheap doll while in official art, the colours blend in better and he actually looks menacing the way Iori did and not some skinny twig.

I think the reason the hair colour is as glaring as it is is because the yellow is too bright. 2k1 K9999 in sprites and official art had it be more orange/mango-like and the blue darker. And the red throws everything off. They should have made Krohnen's hair more like Luong or Nakoruru's hair colour.

And almost all of them are shit. Banderias, Xanadu, Luong, Antonov, Hein, Kukri and Mian were the only good ones. And it's telling that the best three of them were the only ones to return in XV. Krohnen is a good redesign of a character with a more developed personality that actually redeems K9999, who I thought of as just a very half baked lazy "rival" character. Dolores is one of the best KOF newcomers since Oswald and Elizabeth and Isla is OK enough. I guess having Verse powers curses you with a terrible sense of fashion. I'd rather KOF make 2-3 newcomers every game and focus on adding characters from other games. XI was the game that had that balance best fulfilled.

@YagamiFirePersonally I would have SNK tempt a copyright claim again and have Kriz be a dark skinned Knives Millions. Maxima and K' are just "Y2K bikers", it would fit right alongside them.

That's not a threat. Actually that isn't even a factor or plausible issue. The vast majority of people that want Darkstalkers want them back in a new game of their own, same goes for other neglected Capcom games. RE and DMC fans would rather play their own games than have their characters guest appear in SFV/VI, Megaman fans would just want a actual MM game instead of a poorly managed unfair gacha etc KOF doesn't have this issue because the series' they take inspiration from are already fairly grounded in setting. And with Athena, Kensou and the Ikaris: they are so radically different from their original personas that they might as well be original characters. The current saga is the exception and that's because SNK simply wrote themselves into a corner with how many fan favorites they killed off.